Hi Everyone, I am a student and plan to start looking for a company to work for soon. I want to go Over the road and the farther I can go the better. Obviously i want to make as much as possible, but money isn't everything. Aside from pay, what are some good questions to ask recruiters and good qualities to look for in companies? What are companies, policies, etc. i should stay away from?
Your options as a new driver coming in and looking for OTR work are somewhat limited. That is to say you have to work within those who hire students and they are all much the same. However, I'd try to begin with the smaller outfits like Transam as opposed to the huge "mega-dry-van-carriers". You are less apt to become a "statistic and a number" and there are not as many drivers to compete with for a limited amount of freight. Don't concern yourself so much with pay and mileage claims. Not sure where you call home. That will have some affect on your choices, even though you say you want to roam far and wide. Also, don't let their talking about their "lease program" in any way affect your decision making process. You don't need to be thinking about leasing or owning until you've been a company driver a minimum of 1 year and you'd end up going somewhere else, anyway if that panned out.
Does the truck have an APU? What type of transmission do they use? Manual or auto? If manual, what gear type. Do they pay detention pay? How many weeks out will you be running? What types of trucks do they own? How new or old are they? When do they start to sale their trucks (mileage). Does the truck have a in-line V6 or a V8? Will the truck come with navigation? Does the truck have alreay installed CBs? How many miles a week will you typically run?
